Silent Snow
by Flamewind
Summary: /Part 1 of 3/ All Articuno wants is silence, but there is that one voice in her head that won't let her have it. /Oneshot/


Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

**Silent Snow**

I am like snow; I am silent. I am Articuno, ruler of ice.

_Snow is not silent. Snow is quiet. Silence is the absence of noise. Snow has noise, it is not silent._

No, snow has no noise. Snow is not angry and jeering like Zapdos. It does not try to talk to me like Moltres. It is like me; it makes no noise.

_You just cannot hear snow. Stuck in your bubble of ice, you choose to make everything quiet. Everything has noise—you just never hear them anymore._

I hear you. I hear Moltres and Zapdos. I want you all to be silent.

_We are your conscious._

What does that mean?

_No noise means no existence…_

I'm alright with that.

_No you're not._

Yes I am.

_Be quiet._

Hypocrite! Bloody hypocrite!

_No. Lower your voice. Be calm. Be quiet._

No! No, no, no!

_Be quiet. You are not the ruler of silent; you are the ruler of ice. I can see the tears you cry. They have turned to ice, not silent._

Silent is not material.

_Then why do you want it so badly?_

It is all I have left. Why must you deny me it?

_Those that live in silence do not live at all._

Stop philosophizing.

_Only when you start listening._

I am listening. Stop philosophizing.

_You would stop being so obtuse if you were listening._

What's that supposed to mean?

_If you were truly listening to me, I wouldn't be speaking._

You make no sense!

_Thus I shall continue to speak._

Leave me alone!

_There's no need for that. Quiet, Articuno. Stay quiet._

Why aren't you quiet?

_I am. But since I'm the only voice in your world, I am loud, to you. _

There are Moltres and Zapdos, too…

_They dare not intrude when you're speaking to me._

Who am I speaking to, then, who is powerful enough to ward off my brothers?

_You are speaking to yourself._

No.

_I have never gone away, because I am inside of you. I am you._

I am insane.

_That is not of pressing importance yet._

Tell me why you said 'yet.'

I _didn't say yet. _You _did._

There you go again. Not making sense.

_We are one in the same. Whatever I say, you say._

Not making sense…

…Hello?

Hello?

You're not still there.

Good.

_I am._

No!

_Be quiet. Are you willing to listen to me, to yourself?_

Let me understand you this time.

_You will not like what you understand._

But if you are me, then if you know, I should too.

_There. You are beginning to understand._

You lost me.

_Open your eyes, Articuno. _

_Open them._

I do not see anything different.

_It is because you are looking through a solid sheet of ice. Can you see the cracks in the ice? Can you tell how high the snow has piled up?_

No…

_Do you see yet?_

I do not understand.

_Look at the sky. Anything you recognize?_

No. It looks white. It looks like the ground.

_The ground is not white, the snow is._

Same thing. There is always snow, the ground is always white.

_Don't believe that._

I don't need advice, least of all from myself!

_Quiet Articuno. Stay quiet._

_Articuno? Answer me._

If I do not answer you, then you will go away.

_Zapdos and Moltres are waiting for you to stop speaking to me. Do you prefer them, or me?_

I prefer…

You. But only because I do not know you as well as I know them.

_Unfortunately. _

Explain.

_You forget so easily. If I am you, and you do not know me, then you do not know yourself._

You are not really me.

_Keep thinking that, and you will be left to be insane on your own._

If you are me, then I already am.

_No. If I stop talking, then you can be sure you are dead._

Let me die, then.

_Who will control ice, then? The great Mew gave you that control because you were Ho-oh's daughter._

She made me weak.

_Now _you_ must explain._

Zapdos's electricity could make me collapse. Moltres could burn my feathers simply by touching me.

_Your frosty breath could cripple both. But you gave that up. You're weak now. You want silence; you want death._

Let me die.

_The world needs you._

The world will live.

_Only if you do. Will you listen to me now?_

Only if you have something important to say.

_Silly chick. Of course it's important._

Then say it. Or be silent.

_I will only say it when you are listening._

I am listening!

_Stay quiet, Articuno. I will tell you. I have told you before. But I'll say it again:_

_Break out of your ice prison, take to the skies again. Let the world know who you are again; let it know that you are not just a myth who is slowly fading away. Live in a world that is accepting of noise as a part of life. Do not shun the natural occurrence of sound._

_Understand me. Understand what I have to say._

_Did you hear me, Articuno? Do you understand?_

I-I…

_You stammer. You hesitate. …You do not understand._


End file.
